Living With Hepatitis C For Dummies by Nina L. Paul & Gina Pollichino RN

Author:Nina L. Paul & Gina Pollichino, RN
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley

The rest of this chapter elaborates on these suggestions and addresses specific issues that apply when you have hepatitis C and symptoms.

Connecting the Pieces of the Digestion Puzzle

Before getting into the nutrition nitty-gritty, you need to understand where food goes and what it does when it gets into the body. Digestion is the process of breaking down food into energy and nutrients (see Figure 11-1 for an outline of the digestive system).

Figure 11-1: The digestive system.

Digestion begins with the first spoonful of delicious food:

1. The saliva in your mouth contains enzymes that start breaking food down, and your teeth tear the food. The tongue pushes the food down toward the esophagus.

2. The food, wet with saliva, is pumped through the esophagus to the stomach.

3. The stomach uses acidic gastric juice along with a pumping action to break down food into a paste.

4. The digested food paste is sent to the small intestine, which is many feet long and rolled up inside your lower abdomen.

5. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are absorbed into the bloodstream, and the waste is sent to the large intestine (also called the colon) for elimination as feces from the rectum.

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